Enter for your chance to win (2) coffee mugs & (2) bags of coffee from Empatia Coffee
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Empatia Coffee Giveaway
categories: Giveaway
Tag: fair trade
Empatia Coffee
categories: Article
Empatia – the coffee that pours back
Did you know that most coffee farmers do not turn a profit? In countries like Columbia, where over 10% of the countries population is employed by the 550,000 coffee bean farms are struggling to turn a profit due to ever increasing production costs and low market prices.Hence we suggest following people’s minds. I mean following the recent trends that people actually love. If you understand the cafe market report then you’ll understand what people want. Empatia, a new coffee bean company, is striving to help out the everyday bean farmers in these struggling areas.
According to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), if you factor in depreciation of farm assets “there were only four crop years in the ten-year period [2006-2015] in which total profits were greater than or equal to zero.”(Assessing the economic sustainability of coffee growing – ICO, Sep 2016)
There may not be a solution that is obtainable right now, but we can take great strides in moving forward to fixing this issue. Empatia Coffee is giving back 15% of their profits to the farmers they work with in addition to paying premiums for our beans in excess of Fair Trade prices.
Connect with Empatia
As a daily coffee drinker, I have come to appreciate the fresh ground beans turned into caffeinated bliss. Of course, the coffee brewing process is enhanced by using the best grind and brew coffee maker. After all, it’s no secret that the equipment and ingredients you use have an impact on the final product, especially where coffee is concerned. Even if you’re someone who is looking to Make your morning coffee healthier, you can still make a great drink with just the type of coffee beans you use in it. I love taking that moment just to sip and breath in a new 
day. With 2 small children, I need to make the most of my time and that includes the choices I make. I would rather have an enjoyable, deep flavored cup of coffee over a low cost, grainy cup of coffee. Obviously, over the years I have experimented with different types of coffee to know my preference and what makes coffee good. Looking into wholesale cbd coffee taught me a lot about the different ingredients that can be filtered into coffee and the tastes it can give. Nowadays I’m set on what I like, but I like to think of myself as a bit of a coffee fan.
Monthly Empatia will offer a new bag of beans that features a different and exciting flavor profile. This subscription services (or one-time purchase) gives you the chance to try a different coffee from varying places around the globe. The beans are NOT flavor infused, but instead are treated and grown in such a way that the natural aromas and flavors will be bold enough for you to taste. The month that MamatheFox received was the Finca La Cabaña – from Sevilla, Valle Del Cauca in Columbia. These beans were amazing! Opening the bag you could smell how fresh and clean they were, as if they were roasted that morning. I ground some and made my first pot. My husband, who doesn’t typically drink coffee, even had to try a cup. He loved the flavor and found it very soothing. I cannot say enough nice things about Empatia Coffee. If you know a coffee lover, or are one yourself, so yourself a favor and try out at least 1 month worth of beans. This makes a perfect gift for family and friends.
Need that end of school year gift for teacher – give them a subscription to Empatia!
When you receive a monthly subscription box (shown above) from Empatia, you will also be sent a 2-sided colored card featuring the coffee bean farmer that will receive some of the 15% give back funds. It is so welcoming and reassuring to see the face of the person who will benefit from your purchase. With additional facts about the farm, the farmer and a peek into their lives. It also includes details about the beans you are brewing, such as the elevation which it was grown, how it was treated (dried/roasted) and how large their farm is. When you drink your lovely cup or coffee or espresso you can feel a connection and an appreciation I have not found in other coffee’s.
Click here to sign up for a 1-month subscription for only $12.99!
French Broad Chocolates Review
categories: Reviews
French Broad Chocolates Review
About French Broad Chocolates
French Broad Chocolates is not your average chocolatier. It all started when a young couple fell in love. So naturally, as all young couples in love, they took a fun and exciting trip to Costa Rica. After experiencing life in Costa Rica, they both dropped out of graduate school, bought a 40-foot vegetable oil power bus and hit the town running. Living in the area they did, they were exposed to cocoa beans as well as a town that truly understood the bean. The young lovers studied chocolate for over a year and opened a chocolate shop. They soon knew that they were meant to be chocolate people. And we are sincerely grateful that they discovered their calling!
Their first shop was Bread and Chocolate located in Costa Rice (has been since sold) this is where they bought one of their first chocolate tempering machines, this is the machine that mixes and heats the raw chocolate which helps makes their chocolate some of the best I’ve ever tasted, they are now back in the United States and own French Broad Chocolates Lounge in Asherville, North Carolina. When in Costa Rica they helped restored an abandoned cacao farm, as well as helped a friend build a fermentary. By helping their local friends, they now have the connections to directly buy small batches for always fresh and perfectly grown beans. This allows French Broad Chocolates to be miles ahead of any other chocolatiers as far as quality and freshness goes.
French Broad Chocolates are one of a handful of chocolatiers in the world to be bean-to-bar-to-truffle.
My Simple Green Living series is focused on all types of business and products that are in someway ‘green’. French Broad Chocolates supports local businesses by buying their honey from local sources. They strive to buy all their ingredients (like the fruit found in some chocolates) from organic suppliers to ensure the highest quality product to their customers. They even compost things like their egg shells and certain packaging. The most impactful (in my personal opinion) is their support of fair trade. “To ensure that this hard work is valued fairly, we can rely on direct contact, conscientious middlemen, association with like-minded chocolatiers, and fair trade certification.” – French Broad Chocolates Website
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Mama’s Experience
I was able to review 3 amazing products by French Broad Chocolates: a box of truffles (Holiday Collection), Chocolate Sip and Hazelnut Dragée. Each was far more decadent than I would have expected. After researching the company I knew that this chocolate was not going to be any old chocolate. I knew I was going to be able to taste the difference when indulging in a French Broad treat.
Truffles
As the seasons change and the different holidays come and go, French Broad Chocolates keeps things fresh and current. By ensuring you always get the most fresh batch possible they have limited qualities of special edition treats (like the one I was able to review) and others that are (while still fresh) available year-round.
Currently they have 4 stunning collections of truffles to choose from:
- Budda Collection (includes some vegan truffles)
- Salted Caramel Collection
- Signature Collection
- World Collection
My box was the 2015 Holiday Collection. This box featured the following truffles: gingerbread, peppermint, eggnog, champagne, fruitcake and pecan pie caramel.
These are not the type of treat you keep popping into your mouth one after the next, as you mindlessly watch a Chopped marathon. These are the real deal when it comes to top self truffles. Relax. Slowly take a bite. Let is fully melt in your mouth. This allows the palette to fully take in the depth of flavors as well as the silky smooth texture. By slowly enjoying these fine chocolates you will have so much respect for the love that was put into every cocoa bean.
Hazelnut Dragée
French Broad Chocolates makes 2 types of dragée: almond and hazelnut. I was able to review the hazelnut.
When it comes to sweet and salty snacks, French Broad hit the mark! These are one of the coolest chocolate treats I have ever tried. Its a simple yet stunning creation. A whole hazelnut was lightly dipped in chocolate and then dusted with the same soft chocolate flakes. This gives you 2 chocolate flavors to take in as well as the salty, crunchy nut at the center. These are great for that moment you are craving that tiny bit of sweetness but not wanting to ruin your waist line. You can have a little something without the guilt of slamming half of a chocolate bar. I highly recommend grabbing a bag to help you stay in check if you crave chocolate but watching your figure.
Chocolate Sip
This is not a hot chocolate. This is a chocolate sip! French Broad Chocolates make their Chocolate Sip with house-ground chocolate, and suggest that we steam it with just enough water to be sippable. I boiled 1/4 cup of water and poured it over 3 tablespoons of this house-ground chocolate. I quickly whisked it to make a deeply flavorful sipping chocolate treat. You can also make it with milk, for a thicker treat or heavy cream for a full on party in your mouth.
Be sure to drink it sooner than later if you only make it with 1/4 cup of liquid. this is because it will go cold faster due to the small amount of liquid in the cup.
(PS – the sipping chocolate bites are good enough to eat raw! )
Please head over to French Broad Chocolates website. Check out their amazon selection and try out a few things today.